Duleep Trophy squads announced: BCCI appoints Gill, Iyer, Easwaran and Gaikwad as captains

According to a report by Cricbuzz, most of the players from India's senior squads have been selected for the first round of the tournament, with the exceptions of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya. In addition to these four, R Ashwin has also been left out, while Mohammed Shami continues his rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru. 

As per the report, Shubman Gill will captain Team A, which features prominent players such as Riyan Parag, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube, and Kuldeep Yadav. Team B will be headed by Abhimanyu Easwaran, and includes Indian stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile,  Rishabh Pant is set to return to red-ball cricket with the Duleep Trophy, marking the start of India's 2024-25 domestic season. This will be Pant's first appearance in first-class cricket since his car accident in December 2022. Allrounder Nitish Reddy is also part of Team B, though his participation will depend on his fitness due to his injury during the Indian Premier League.

The ruling body also announced that players selected for India's home Test series against Bangladesh will be replaced in the Duleep Trophy squads. The tournament is scheduled to begin on September 5, with matches being hosted at Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur and the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The first-class competition will conclude on September 22.

Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK).